Page 44 of Bound
Chapter 16
Gage
I turn away from the doors as Ruin and Tanner slip back into the manor. Pinching the bridge of my nose, I scour the nearby lawn.
Amoret remains inches from the grass, her shoulders hunched and her expression withdrawn. Nisha nudges her gently. Amoret peers up, and I realize that even Tanner’s female towers of Amoret’s diminutive stature.
I walk over.
“It will all work out,” Nisha is saying as I near. “And Lilah will come around. Give her a chance.”
“I don’t think she likes me at all,” Amoret breathes. “And I don’t blame her. I didn’t … We didn’t know.” The heartbroken crack in her voice sends a bolt of pain down my spine. One I should not feel. “Bran would never …” She trails off, her vibrant eyes closing.
“Amoret.” Her name slips from my lips before I can stop it.
She glances at me. A faint flush of color creeps into her smooth cheeks before she drops her gaze again. The posture is beyond demure. It borders on beaten.
My teeth grind. “Amoret, look at me.” Nisha steps a pace back at my tone. But Amoret remains focused on the ground. It’s not a dismissal. A snub. She genuinely seems to fear me, or perhaps my reaction. And it starts a fissure inside that my fire rushes to fill.
Give me her anger. Her tears.
But I could not stand her fearing me too.
I stalk over the stone pathway toward her. The closer I get, the more rigid she becomes.
My fingers grasp her chin before I can reason why they shouldn’t. I lift her gaze. The moment her eyes lock in mine, a shaky sigh leaves her. I feel it in my gut. And farther down.
“I’m sorry, Gage,” she says, those three-toned irises darting over my face. “I didn’t know.”
I turn and look at Nisha. The shifter female is fixed on me, her arms crossed and her expression turbulent. I release Amoret.
“What did you say to her?” I demand.
Amoret grips my forearm. Her touch is not cool, but like a balm as she tries to hold me in place. I stare down at her upturned face. “I know about Ruin. And Lilah. Butwedidn’t know. Believe me. We would never try him for …” She trails off again, a definite note of panic coloring her voice. “I swear the Council did not tell us she was his Consort. If Bran knew—” Her head shakes with vehemence. “I won’t separate them.Wewon’t.”
Her chest and shoulders heave and the fire filling her makes her glow. It seems to pull at the shimmer of light I know is under her skin. The one I want to bathe the walls of my suite as she screams my name.
The desire is instant. Fierce.
Fuck.
Nisha raises a brow at me. “Why didn’t you tell her, Gage?” Her voice is like iron as I beat back the lust stirring my length. “How did you expect her or her people to reside over the trial without knowing everything?”
Emerald light slashes over the side of the manor. The rage … Now that is easier to deal with. “Because I knew it would sway their decision. Just as the Council did. For the trial to be fair, they needed to be impartial. By telling them that Ruin and Lilah are Consorts …” I bare my teeth. “The Fae do not have a fated mate. Not like shifters or the vamps. Hell, even the Asmodeans do. That is why they were the only choice to reside over this.”
I pull from Amoret’s grasp. “By telling her everything, what do you think the Council will say when they have their ruling?”
Her sea-foam gaze scours mine and a hint of her beast peers back. “I don’t know,” she grinds out.
“They will demand a new trial. With another sect of supes. Probably from Europe. The assholes will be biased. And not inourfucking favor.” I rock back and rub a hand over my face. “I don’t like this anymore than the rest of you. But damn it, Nisha. This was not our trial.”
She drops her hands to her hips in defiance. “But he’s your friend. Hell, he was your captain.”
I wince and am careful not to slant my gaze back to Amoret.
At least with captain as my title, I wasn’t just a warrior for the colony. I had a modicum of prestige. Something to show for my twenty fucking years away from the Sith besides a smoking habit and an enjoyment of older rap.
But I know who Ruin is. What he has done for Lock Lake. For me.
